MovieChat Forums > The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013) Discussion > my theory on why #25 wasn't on the final...

my theory on why #25 wasn't on the final cover

posted 10 years ago by laserredg
83 replies | jump to latest

Throughout the entire movie we get the sense that negative #25 will not be shown to the audience. I still think this was true. When Walter barges into the exec meeting to give #25, we see what may have been the final cover that displayed “The End of Life”. Walter then asks Ted what is Life’s motto. Here is the exact quote…..

“Do you know our motto?”
“This thing that you do Ted where you come into a place and push people out? You should know that those people worked really hard to build this magazine. They believe in the motto.”

Forward to where they show us the published final cover and it displayed “Dedicated to the people who made it.” My theory is that the execs changed the cover based on Walter’s speech to Ted and didn’t use #25. Of course the argument then is how the execs got the photo of Walter for the final cover but that is another topic for debate.

[–] DataGrab 10 years ago

That's a nice theory. And no. Listen to Sean Penn's dialogue when they were both on the mountain. And where'd the execs get a negative pic of Walter? Add that to the photo essay which clearly say it's from Sean O'Connell. Very nice ending. It was sublime.

A ship sank at the end of the movie Titanic!

[–] desperateone 10 years ago

go fly a kite mate...

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[–] Zigawaguay 10 years ago

The picture clearly IS #25.
First of all: The picture WAS TAKEN BY SEAN! See the movie again, on the cover of the magazine, it clearly states "Photo Essay by Sean O'Connor".
Walter didn't recognize the picture. He always went through all the pictures of Sean over the years. The ONLY picture he never saw was #25. Hence, this must be it.

Also, Sean didn't know that this employee actually is Walter. Therefore his remark on the mountain top "let's just say it's ghost cat Walter Mitty".
When he visited his mom, he must have seen this "guy" going through pictures and he thought that this would be a perfect picture for the last issue. Therefore up on the mountain he was so surprised and asked if he seriously was Walter Mitty because he realized the coincidence. And that's why he wouldn't tell him what's on the picture.

[–] jd23187 10 years ago

He DID know that it was Walter in the picture. That is exactly why he took it of Walter. Walter is Sean's only contact at LIFE that actually means something to him. If you listen to the dialog on the mountain more closely, you can clearly pick up the facial expressions + the tone overtures of Sean. He knew exactly who he was taking the picture of. The #25 of anyone else but Walter would not have been unique enough to cut the negative out and stick it in an absolute personal present as the wallet.

Sean took the picture of Walter and knew that it was Walter when he took it.

[–] muveme 10 years ago

Yes... and he says as much in his note to Walter when he sends the roll of film and wallet.

[–] gothsamurai 10 years ago

Hey something is seriously confusing me and I don't know if it was already brought up, but I'm hoping someone can help me out. The cover of the final magazine was walter going through sean's photos at the front of the LIFE building, correct? Well walter received the wallet (which held the 25th shot) along with sean's photos, at which point he realized the 25th shot was missing and decided to investigate. Sean said the photo was in walter's wallet all along, but how could it have been, if it was of a future event? My point is, how could the cover photo have been taken after walter started to investigate if he received the wallet (with the 25th shot already inside) before he started to investigate?

It's either sean was leading walter on a wild goose chase and secretly took the pic of him, or sean's 25th pic was replaced by the execs to put the pic of walter. Or even, what if his mother took the pic of him and placed the negative inside his wallet?

I don't know if I'm making any sense, but I'd be grateful if someone cleared it up.

[–] richardmartin-2 10 years ago

The photo which appears on the cover (#25) isn't taken at the same time as when he's looking at the other photos Sean sent him and Kristen Wiig comes up to him, although the setup is almost identical. If you go on Google Streetview and have a look, in the #25 shot WM is sitting on the wall next to the Time Life building at the end of (but on) W 50th Street. When Kristen comes up to him, he's sitting on a different wall outside the Chase Building on Avenue of the Americas, about 70 yards away (at a guess).

[–] theflash987 10 years ago

"The cover of the final magazine was walter going through sean's photos at the front of the LIFE building, correct?"

No, not correct. Therefore nullifying everything you just said after that statement =P

[–] rahul-sarika 10 years ago

I felt the same thing. Walter was trying to find clues in the rest of the negatives to locate Sean. So, as good as the "Sean taking Walter's photo" theory sounds, the events in the movie don't support it.

[–] 10 years ago

[deleted]

[–] CigarDoug 8 years ago

This was not the first time Walter sat outside and looked at negatives. It was clearly one of his "go-to" spots. Sometimes you have to get out of the office to get a fresh perspective. So, if he was in the habit of sitting on that stone bench, there were plenty of opportunities for Sean to take the picture.

[–] crustywaffle 10 years ago

really? People aren't getting it?

When Sean wrote the letter he said that this was the "Quintessence of Life"

as in Life, the magazine. The most perfect example or definition of what the Magazine had stood for.

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[–] muveme 10 years ago

I believe you are correct. I think this is how the writers intended it.

[–] HevyChevy 10 years ago

laserredg wrote:

...Forward to where they show us the published final cover and it displayed “Dedicated to the people who made it.”
My theory is that the execs changed the cover based on Walter’s speech to Ted and didn’t use #25. Of course the argument then is how the execs got the photo of Walter for the final cover but that is another topic for debate.

MY Theory is that you are correct, laserredg, in that the execs decided not to use #25, probably based on Mitty's empassioned speech to Ted Hendricks.

...however, more to my point...

The scene we see on the cover shows Mitty looking at a sheet, sitting in front of his office building.
In that scene of the movie, that sheet should have INCLUDED #25, because it was from THAT roll of film (of course, it was missing at that time), so how could Sean O'Connell have taken a shot that was already taken?!

I found the final reveal of that cover shot to be a very "Twilight Zone" moment in this movie, because of that.

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[–] ScottishFilmFan 10 years ago

Sean visited Walter's mum and asked her about Walter's work timetable etc. Sean took the picture the week he was in New York, he tracked Walter to take it. The picture WAS #25.

How can anyone watch this movie and not get such straightforward points?

"Call it a ghostcat, Walter Mitty" is what Sean says to Walter on the mountain. Read that sentence and imagine Sean is being playful. He's telling Walter the picture was of him.

[–] Kung_Fu_Hustler 9 years ago

As a photographer who used to develop his own b & w film, once the film is developed, if you cut out one or 2 of the negatives, they are gone. So with Walter sitting there looking @ the negative sheet, there is no way for Sean to have cut #25 and placed it in the wallet for Walter, and for Walter to be looking @ a sheet with #25 on it. Plus, Walter is probably looking @ the sheet (either 5 or 6 frames per row, 5 rows per sheet, if my memory is correct as it has been 20 years since I last did this!) and seeing that, while there is no obvious gap, as #25 would either be the last frame on the row (if five per row) or the 1st frame (if 6 frames per row). Walter would need to look at the sleeve to see each frame number to see that #25 was missing.

[–] DendelionBlu 10 years ago

It was #25. Sean knew Walter

This is a straight forward movie you guys - and I loved it, it was great, it was emotional. And it was straightforward

This isn't The Matrix, Mulholland Drive, or The Usual Suspects

It was negative #25. Sean wanted to thank Walter and all the hard-working employees

Really, come on

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[–] Mad_Scientist1 10 years ago

When Sean and Walter were in the Himalayas and Sean was telling him about the snow leopard he described it as a "ghost cat" which "never lets itself be seen" because "beautiful things don't ask for attention." So, obviously, Sean thinks this snow leopard is beautiful. Probably not just for its physical attributes but for its quiet humility. Sean then says, "it was a shame you never saw the photograph. It was a beauty."

Later, when Walter asks what the picture was, Sean responds "let's just call it a ghost cat." This is my favorite scene from the whole movie, and I think it's obvious that Sean is relating Walter to the leopard. It's also pointed out throughout the movie that Sean respects and admires Walter's work as a quiet, hard working person behind the scenes of Life. Sean relates to Walter and the snow leopard in that they are all observers of life. That's why I believe #25 was definitely taken by Sean.

[–] lemner 10 years ago

When Sean doesn't take the photo of the snow leopard, and says, "Sometimes I don't, sometimes I like to stay in the moment," that kind of makes plausible the fact that he stalked Walter and took his picture, but didn't try to introduce himself. Sean is also one of the "beautiful things that don't ask for attention," and he thinks of Walter as the same. That's why, when Walter asks what the picture was, Sean says, "a ghost cat, Walter Mitty," which had a double meaning for Sean.
As far as the picture showing Walter looking at a set of negatives outside, that must have been a habit of his, not just something he did when he was looking for the missing negative.

Zeros'se previous reply states perfectly how Sean felt about Walter.

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[–] blonkm-882-588631 10 years ago

I think the reason Walter often goes out with the negatives is he receives them and doesn't want to wait for the machine to process it. So he goes outside, where he can immediately see the pictures in bright sunlight.

[–] kajong-v-p 8 years ago

Precisely what I was going to say! The words "quintessence" and "ghost cat" immediately came to me the moment I saw the final cover. It's my favourite part of the film!